Shuttle car



W. Ri BECK `March ll, 19-2 SHUTTLE CAR 4 Sheets-Sheet l Filed April 20, 1949 INVENTOR. Bywillmm eck r I ll/ V March l1, 1952 w. R. BECK 2,588,341

SHUTTLE CAR Filed April 2o, 1949 4 sheets-sheet 2 LMQQWH 1N VENTOR.

/l Tron/v5 y W. R, BECK SHUTTLE CAR March 11, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed April 20, 1949 ,BY y1,

TTOR/vn/ March 11, 1952 w. R. BECK 2,588,341

SHUTTLE CAR Filed April 2o, 1949 v4 sneets-sneewi INVENTOR.

Patented Mar. 11, 1952 SHUTTLE CAR William R. Beck, Chicago, Ill., assigner to Goodman Manufacturing Company, Chicago, Ill., a

corporation of Illinois Application April 20, 1949, Serial No. 88,575

3 Claims. (Cl. 214 83.36)

This invention relates to improvements in selfpropelled material handling vehicles of the rubber-tired type, commonly referred to as shuttle cars, used in mines for transporting coal or other mined material from the working face of a mine to an unloading station, Such vehicles are especially adapted to receive loose material from a material gathering or loading machine at the working face of a mine, and are provided with a material carrying compartment extending substantially the full length thereof, with a conveyor along the bottom of said compartment for discharging its load from one end when the vehicle reaches the unloading station.

One of the principal requirements of vehicles of this kind is that of -compactness of design and particularly a low overall height for operation within the space limitations usually imposed by operating conditions in mines.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle of the character above described with an improved form of propelling mechanism for the driving wheels, together with an improved form and arrangement of conveyor mechanism along the bottom of the material earrying compartment so as to increase the carrying capacity of the shuttle car within the available space limitations.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will appear from time to time as the following description proceeds.

The invention may best be understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a view of a shuttle car constructed.

in accordance with my invention, with the car shown in side elevation but with parts broken away to show a portion of the Iwheel driving mechanism;

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the shuttle car shown in Figure l, with parts broken away to show a portion of the wheel driving mechanism;

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary detailed plan view with parts broken away to show the power connections to the central worm drive mechanism;

Figure 4 is a detailed section of the motor driven gearing, taken on line 4 4 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a detailed section taken on line 5 5 of Figure l, but drawn to a slightly larger scale than the latter figure;

Figure 6 is an enlarged detailed section taken on line 6 6 of Figure 2;

Figure T is an enlarged detailed View of the differential gear shown in Figure 6 with most of the gears show n invertical section;

Figure 8 is a detailed View of the differential gear shown in Figure 7, with some of the parts shown in horizontal section;

Figure 9 is a detailed vertical section of the diiferential gear similar to that shown in Figures 6, '7 and 8 but, in this case, the diierential gearing is that employed on the front driving axle of the vehicle;

Figure 10 is a detailed section in plan view showing the spring' mounting for the driving axles, with parts shown in section; and

Figure l1 is a detailed section on line Il l I of Figure 1G, drawn to a larger scale.

Referring now to details of embodiment of my invention illustrated in the drawings, the shuttle car, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, has a main frame including a pair of laterally spaced side plates Il, H extending the length of the vehicle and through which iront and rear axles indicated generally at Hl and I5, respectively, are supported, as will hereinafter appear. The front and rear axles have rubber-tired lwheels I8, ,I6 and Vi, Il on their outer ends. The illustrative form of vehicle shown is of the 1-wheel drive type, and both front and rear wheels I5 and I7 are arranged for steering movement.

The material carrying compartment of the vehicle consists of upstanding laterally spaced walls 20, 2 I, which walls constitute an extension of the side plates Il, Il at the front of the car, and are ared outwardly at 22, 23 to a widened hopperlike portion, indicated generally at 2li at the rear end of the vehicle, dened by a pair of outwardly inclined plates 25, 25. The latter plates extend over the rear wheels Il', so as to aiiord increased capacity at the rear end of the vehicle and also a wider horizontal area for receiving loose material from the overhanging boom of a loading,

machine. This arrangement of a material carrying compartment, with a relatively narrow iront portion and a larger hopper-like rear portion 24, is commonly employed in certain types of shuttle cars. Also, as usual, a drivers station, indicated generally at $23, may be located near the forward end of the vehicle in advance of one of the front wheels t5. In the form shown herein, said operators station consists of two oppositely facing seats 29 and 30 with a steering wheel 3l mounted on the side wall 2i! between said seats so that the operator can face in either direction, as desired, for steering the vehicle.

Referring now more particularly to the propelling mechanism and the bottom conveyor, which constitute the principal features of my invention, the 4-wheel drive of the vehicle is accomplished through two worm gear drive mechanisms, indicated generally at 35 and 36, located at the center of the front and rear axles I4 and I5, respectively, and driven from a common source of power through a propeller shaft 3l, herein connected at one end of the rear worm gear drive 36. A second propeller shaft 33 connects the rear worm gear drive 35 with a similar front worm gear drive 35, as shown in Figures 1 and 2.

The propeller shaft 3l is preferably driven from two electric motors fill, all, each located to the rear of one of the rear drive wheels il and beneath the inclined side walls 25, 25 of the hopper portion 24. Said motors are suitably supported on outstanding brackets fil, [il connected to the upright side frame members ll, Il as shown in Figure 5. The drive shafts of the two motors fill, ill are connected by universally jointed intermediate shafts 2 and i3 to opposite en-ds of a common traverse shaft Ml, suitably journaled in a gear reduction housing i5 adjacent the center of the vehicle and suitably supported by the cross frame members et, le connected between the side plates ll, il. The two drive motors 0, 4i! are preferably driven in unison and their arrangement on opposite sides of the vehicle as shown contributes to greater compactness and symmetry of design of the car.

A suitable gear reduction mechanism, indicated generally at 48, is mounted in the housing 5, including a beveled pinion A9 meshed with a beveled gear 5B on a longitudinal drive shaft 5l, disposed centrally of the vehicle. The drive shaft 5| is connected to the propeller shaft 3l through a universal joint 5a, and the propeller shaft 3l is connected to the worm shaft of the rear worm drive mechanism 3% through a universal joint 54. The two worm gear drives 35 and 3S are substantially similar so that a description of the front worm gear mechanism 35 will suffice for an understanding of both.

As shown in Figures 5, '7 and 8, the worm gear mechanism 35 on the front axle lll includes the worm shaft 53 having a worm :'55 thereon, and journaled at opposite ends in the lower part 5l of a gear housing, indicated generally at 5S. The upper portion 59 of the gear housing Eil has integrally formed hollow tubular extensions Eil), till, which constitute a unitary dead axle structure extending at opposite ends through pedestals I2, l2 where they are spring supported with respect to the vehicle, as will hereinafter more 4fully be described.

Within the enlarged portion te of the gear housing 5S is mounted a worm gear e2 1nesh ing with the worm 55. The worm gear 82 forms part of a differential drive gearing of conventional type enclosed in the hcusing for driving the about its periphery. The hollow support El has a pair of inwardly extending beveled pinions ll, 1U meshing with beveled `gears il, 'il splined on the ends of the shafts S5 and e?, in the usual manner.

The lower portion 51 of the worm gear housing 58 is detachably connected tc the upper portion 59 of said portion as by a plurality of bolts 75, '65.

The outer end of the live shafts t5 and it have driving connection with their respective wheels 16 through a conventional steering knuckle mechanism, shown in Figure 6. This steering knuckle and drive connection need not be described in detail, as it forms no part of the present invention, excepting to point out those parts associated with the spring suspension means for opposite ends of the axle shown in detail in Figures 10 and 11. A hollow semi-spherical member 76, on which the opposed pivot pins l1 and 13 of the steering knuckle are rotatably supported at their inner ends, is formed integral with an extension tube 19, which is secured as by bolts Sil to the anged outer end 3| of the hollow aXle tube 6@ of the axle structure l5. Immediately within the flanged outer end 3| of the axle tube 60 is a split bearing support 82 surrounding said tube. The lower portion 83 of said split bearing support has a pair 4of outwardly extending ledges 8:1, Bil which form abutments for the lower ends of coil springs 85. The upper end of these springs engage brackets 8E, 86 secured to and projected outwardly from the adjacent side plate l l of the vehicle.

Each end of the axle tube Sil is guided for ver.- tical movement in the pedestal structure l2 herein consisting of vertically extending guide plates 8S .formed integrally with the tube and adapted for vertical movement between upright guide plates 89 xed to the inner face of the side plate ll. The guide plates 88 include outwardly flanged thrust plates 823e which hold the axle structure in centered relation relative to the vehicle. As shown in Figure 10, a slight clearance is normally provided between the thrust plates Silo and the opposed inwardly facing surfaces of the nxed guide plate 88, so as to permit limited vertical tilting movement of the axle structure relative to the main frame of the car.

In the illustrative form shown herein, the rear axle l5 instead of beingy spring mounted with respect to the car, has the opposite ends of its axle tube 6G fixed in brackets i3, 3 attached to side plates Il, Il.

Details of the worm gear mechanism 35 on the rear axle I5 are the same as already described in connection with the rear axle construction shown ,s in Figures 6 to 9, inclusive, excepting that its worm shaft 90 extends through the front end of the lower portion 9i of the gear housing 92, for connection with the propeller shaft 33 leading to the front axle.

As will be seen Vfrom Figures 2, 4 and 6, the two worm gear structures 35 and (l each include relatively large worm gears S2 disposed along the center of the Vehicle. In order to accommodate -these worm gears without materially reducing the capacity of thevehicle, the bottom of the elongated material carrying compartment is formed of a generally horizontal plate S5, fixed along its outer edges to the upright side plates ll, ll of the vehicle, but provided along its center with a continuous arched or ridge-like formation 9G of sufficient height to clear the enlarged top portions 5e of the two gear housings 53 of the front and rear axles, as shown in Figure 6. Y

Along opposite sides of this central ridge of the bottom plate is trained a pair of night conveyors ill, Si which may be of conventional type, each consisting of a central chain 98 having flights 919 in spaced relation therealong. Each of the chains are trained over drive sprockets |00 fixed on a transverse shaft lill at the discharge end of the bottom plate 95 adjacent the front end of the vehicle. The drive shaft I0| may be driven in any suitable manner, as for instance, through a gear reduction drve`l03 connected to a driving motor |04 disposed under the front seat 29 of the, operator outside the upright side plate 20.

The rear ends of the conveyor chains 98 are trained over sprockets |05 on an idler shaft |00 shrouded under an end plate |01 at the rear end of the car. From the idler shaft v|06, the two chains extend forwardly and downwardly over idlers |08 so as to pass beneath the gear reduction housing 45, as shown in Figure 5. From thence, the lower return reaches of the conveyors 91 are carried along inwardly projecting ledges H0, |I| to idlers ||2 near the front of the machine and thence in an upwardly inclined direction to the drive sprockets |05 at the front end of the machine. In the form shown herein, the outermost ledges I I0 for supporting the lower reaches of the conveyors 91, 91 are connected to the side plates Il, while the innermost pair of ledges are suitably fastened to cross members I3 extending between said plates, as shown in Figures 4 and 6.

While I have herein shown and described one form in which my invention may be embodied, it will be understood that the construction thereof and the arrangement of the various parts may be altered without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. Furthermore, I do not wish to be construed as limiting my invention to the specific embodiment illustrated, excepting as it may be limited in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a vehicle of the class described, a main frame having upright Walls and a bottom plate defining an open-ended material carrying compartment extending longitudinally thereof, axle structures having wheels thereon, for supporting said vehicle, means for propelling said vehicle including a worm gear mechanism on at least one of said axles disposed centrally thereof, said bottom plate having a centrally disposed, open-bottomed, longitudinally extending arched portion registering with and disposed above saidworm gear mechanism to accommodate the upper portion of the same, and a pair of endless conveyors mounted for movement along said, bottom plate at opposite sides of said arched portion for discharging material from the open end of said compartment. and means for drivingsaid conveyors. -1

2. A vehicle structure in accordance with claim 1, wherein each of the axle structures have worm gearV mechanisms connected for simultaneous propulsion by propeller shaft means extending longitudinally of the vehicle beneath said' bottom plate,"and the centrally disposed. open-bottomed, longitudinally extending arched portion of said bottom plate extends substantially the full length of the latter and is disposed above said gear mechanisms to form a receptacle for the upper portions of same.

3. A vehicle structure in accordance with claim 1, wherein the worm gear mechanism hasi drive means including a pair of motors mounted on opposite sides of the vehicle outside the material carrying compartment and operatively connected to said worm gear mechanism through a single drive member.

WILLIAM R. BECK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

